This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Without a queen, the locust swarm
turned the ground to black,
descending like a shadowy tower on a fish's back
And scattered the sticks who crawled
like snakes in the sand,
as the red clay took the form of a lizard
who rushed like a moth to the flame of my open hand
While in my little world, my sad little world
A speckled bird humbly inspired
ran across the road when it could have flown
And it made me smile
At the water's edge, Babylon
we laid down and slept
as the river wept for you, O Zion!
the stones cry out,
bells shake the sky
all creation groans...
(shhh!)
Listen to it!
Messes of men in farmer poverty;
not much for monks but we pretend to be
Share a silent meal and a pot of chamomile
Gypsies like us should be stamped in solidarity
I hold you in my fond but distant memory
while for the Mother Hen to gather me
who regretfully wrote,
"You have a decent ear for notes,
but you can't yet appreciate harmony."
O, porcupine, perched low in the tree
Your eyes to mine:
"You'd be well inclined not to mess with me."
At the garden's edge beneath a speechless sky,
as his friends all slept,
Jesus wept, and it's no wonder why
And now you say you wanna be set free,
and wanna set me free?
Well I'm told that can only come from
a union with the One who never dies.
While in my little world, in my sad little world
I patched a plaster wall
In my little world
And in my little world, I was waiting
just dying to take offence at something
In my little world
In my little world, in my sad little world
This is all there is in my little world
In darkness a light shines on me
In darkness a light shines on you
I never gathered figs from a thorny branch,
I never picked a grapefruit off a bramble bush
and for the past five- almost six years now!-
you know you haven't once looked at me
with kindness in your eyes,
and you say Judas is a brother of mine?
Oh but sister in our darkness a light shines!
And all I ever want to say for the rest of my life
is how that light is God,
and though I've been mistaken on this or that point,
that light is God.
turned the ground to black,
descending like a shadowy tower on a fish's back
And scattered the sticks who crawled
like snakes in the sand,
as the red clay took the form of a lizard
who rushed like a moth to the flame of my open hand
While in my little world, my sad little world
A speckled bird humbly inspired
ran across the road when it could have flown
And it made me smile
At the water's edge, Babylon
we laid down and slept
as the river wept for you, O Zion!
the stones cry out,
bells shake the sky
all creation groans...
(shhh!)
Listen to it!
Messes of men in farmer poverty;
not much for monks but we pretend to be
Share a silent meal and a pot of chamomile
Gypsies like us should be stamped in solidarity
I hold you in my fond but distant memory
while for the Mother Hen to gather me
who regretfully wrote,
"You have a decent ear for notes,
but you can't yet appreciate harmony."
O, porcupine, perched low in the tree
Your eyes to mine:
"You'd be well inclined not to mess with me."
At the garden's edge beneath a speechless sky,
as his friends all slept,
Jesus wept, and it's no wonder why
And now you say you wanna be set free,
and wanna set me free?
Well I'm told that can only come from
a union with the One who never dies.
While in my little world, in my sad little world
I patched a plaster wall
In my little world
And in my little world, I was waiting
just dying to take offence at something
In my little world
In my little world, in my sad little world
This is all there is in my little world
In darkness a light shines on me
In darkness a light shines on you
I never gathered figs from a thorny branch,
I never picked a grapefruit off a bramble bush
and for the past five- almost six years now!-
you know you haven't once looked at me
with kindness in your eyes,
and you say Judas is a brother of mine?
Oh but sister in our darkness a light shines!
And all I ever want to say for the rest of my life
is how that light is God,
and though I've been mistaken on this or that point,
that light is God.
Lyrics submitted by theriverwept, edited by Proodesta, drummerboypbc
O, Porcupine Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, TERRORBIRD PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
in reading the gospel of thomas, i found this, referencing the last verse =]
v45 - Jesus said, "Grapes are not harvested from thorns, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they do not produce fruit. A good man brings forth good from his storehouse; an evil man brings forth evil things from his evil storehouse, which is in his heart, and says evil things. For out of the abundance of the heart he brings forth evil things."